Chapter 3 - The Boardroom in the Room
When Richard walked back into the hospital room, the shadow of the man he had been five minutes ago was gone. The billionaire who had built a reputation on destroying his enemies had returned.
Victoria was awake now, sitting on the edge of the recliner, checking her reflection in a small compact mirror.
"Richard," she said, looking up with a soft, practiced pout. "You were gone a long time. The doctor said we might be able to take him home tomorrow afternoon. I was thinking we should hire a temporary agency nanny by then. Someone... more professional than Clara."
Richard walked over to the small table by the bed. He set the red plastic recorder down between them.
"What is that for?" Victoria asked, her eyes darting to the toy, then up to his face.
"Ethan woke up earlier," Richard said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "He told me to listen to it. He said it holds his stories."
Victoria’s hand froze on her compact. The color slowly drained from her perfectly contoured cheeks. "Richard, he's a child. He's concussed. Whatever is on that... it's just nonsense."
"Let's find out," Richard said.
He reached out and pressed the green triangle.
The stairwell conversation played out in the small room. The accusations. The threats. The sickening sound of the fall. The cold, manipulative cover-up.
As the recording played, Victoria didn't move. She looked like a beautiful marble statue, her mouth slightly open, her eyes wide with the realization that the empire she had spent two years trying to secure had just vanished into a fifty-dollar children's toy.
When the recording finished, the silence in the room was absolute.
Victoria slowly stood up. The elegant, helpless fiancée was gone. In her place stood a woman whose survival instincts were as sharp as Richard’s.
"Richard," she whispered, taking a step toward him. "It... it was an accident. He threw a tantrum. He grabbed my coat, he slipped. I panicked. You have to understand the pressure I was under, trying to be a mother to a child who hates me—"
"Get out," Richard said.
"Richard, listen to me—"
"If you are not out of this building in sixty seconds," Richard said, his voice rising just enough to make the monitor beside Ethan beep once, "I will call the District Attorney. I have the entire legal department of Avery Enterprises on standby. By morning, this recording will be in the hands of the Atlanta Police, the press, and every charitable board you have ever crawled onto. You will not just lose me, Victoria. You will lose everything you have ever touched."
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Victoria looked into his eyes and saw the absolute absence of mercy. She knew him well enough to know he wasn't bluffing.
She picked up her cream coat, her diamond ring catching the harsh light one last time, and walked out of the room without looking back.
